Independent journalism and the future of the CBC

We look at the state and the future of Canada's public broadcaster and ask what the election means to the CBC.

Launched almost a century ago, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, or the CBC, has always played a crucial role in promoting Canadian identity, culture and values.

Its output spans a vast, lightly populated country. And given that Canada borders the US, a cultural superpower that beams in a motherlode of news and entertainment programming - in the same language that most Canadians call their mother tongue - the CBC's output must be uniquely Canadian.

That has not always been an easy task, made much harder of late, by a number of conflict of interest scandals hitting some of its biggest on-air names.

Add to that, the repeated budget cuts and layoffs under the Conservative government of outgoing Prime Minister Steven Harper, and the CBC's future hangs in the balance.

But the recent election victory for Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party could signal much needed change for the broadcaster.

In his election campaign, Trudeau vowed to restore financial support, editorial independence and governance reform. Now Canadians, who overwhelmingly support their public network, need to hold him to his word if the CBC is to survive.

The Listening Post's Flo Phillips reports from Toronto on the future of the CBC.